Pick Apart My Plan

[Reverend Boxcar]

hey everyone, I have been hiding out for a few months absorbing as much information as I could for my first attempt at a forge build. I dont have a lot of money to throw at a forge so I have designed one that has only run about 125 in parts and materials. I am trying to make a small tinkers coal forge. I was hoping you could point out any shortcoming in the plan that may be a future problem or more importantly, outright dangerous. Thanks for your time and help.

 

I am using an old flat bottom BBQ pit as the base of my forge. I will cut out a hole and place an old brake drum from a car into the hole to create my fire pot. I will create a grog out of kitty liter, smashed firebricks, and Oatey High heat furnace cement to line and insulate the entire pit. I will run a 2in non galvanized steel pipe up through the brake drum with holes drilled into the cap to allow airflow. The pipe will connect to a "T" pipe the bottom being a reservoir for ash and the right angle connecting to my air source.

 

Anything stand out as particularly stupid or dangerous?

[Dale M.]

Simplistically it all sounds good..... But as the say , the devil is in the details....

 

Dale

[Dan C]

My forge is very similar, though I gave up on using kitty litter and just went with the refractory cement and firebrick to make grog.  It's easy to add a dump gate at the pipe bottom.  What are your plans for a blower?

 

Here's a link to my setup.

 

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[ThomasPowers]

Wow I don't think I spent that much total building all my coal forges for the last 30+ years!

 

Why plead poverty and then say you are spending that much?

[Dan C]

The grog only needs to line the brake drum and leave the area of the tuyere open enough so you weld in a new grate from time to time. 

[Reverend Boxcar]

I have a 3in section of pipe for the dump gate, My tyre setup is almost the same as yours without the welding to receive the pipe.  As far as being on a budget, I spent that over the course of a few months. I dont have a lot of tools that were required in the other forge instructions (welder, saw for cutting steel) I also own a small car, so i couldn't fit most things necessary to build the other forges in my car i.e. 55gal drum. I had planed on using clay instead of refractory cement but I found out mississippi mud is no good which bumped my cost up about 40 bucks(S&H) and the pipe cost me 45. everything else was 5 bucks here and 5 bucks there.

[EGreen]

if you can dig some clay some where, do it. side of the road ,creek bank. I tried walmarts cheap cat litter and it is full of shale or chat. not worth a hoot. JMPE

[Dan C]

There's a lot of good information on this site regarding resources and how to shop around.  If you're not familiar with metal shops for stock you will be.  They have drop zones that sell steel at scrap metal price.  Something I didn't know when I built my forge was irrigation companies will have cut offs too.  As you noticed, I cut and then welded the T-section of my tuyere which saved a little.

 

When you can before you drop some coin on something search the forum, it's almost certain that someone else ran into the same situation and posed the question.

[LastRonin]

Wow... I have $0.97 total in my break drum forge build. That was for the dimmer switch I got at the Liquidation Outlet store to slow down the small wet/dry vac I use as a blower (it was a discard from the place I work cause someone backed over it, the bucket part was busted and the top cracked, but it didn't affect the air it put out the exhaust port). I also got the 2" black iron pipe and fittings from the scrap piles there (old fire sprinkler pipe). The drum was in the scrap pile out back of our house from when the Missus' Grandparents lived here. The metal topped table I dropped the drum into was in the 'shop'. Didn't bother lining the drum or the table surface with any refractory or anything. It gets hot enough to burn steel VERY easily and has never gotten the drum or tabletop hot enough to glow or warp or anything.